Maroc - NEWSDAY.CO.TT - A la Une - 20/Sep 07:10

Kamla: 18 charged under SoE

Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar said 18 individuals have been charged under provisions of the state of emergency (SoE). She revealed this in response to a question by Port of Spain North/St Ann’s West MP Stuart Young who asked if the PM could say how many have been detained via detention orders under the SoE, and out of those, how many charges were laid. "I am advised by officials from the TTPS that under the current SoE, there have been 120 preventative detention orders issued, 78 persons have been detained thus far, 42 persons of interest outstanding, and 18 persons charged thus far," Persad-Bissessar said. Newsday reported on September 11, that DCP Junior Benjamin said that under the provisions of the SoE the police conducted 4,555 operations and arrested 1,775 people, recovering 118 firearms, 1,477 bullets, 227 kilos of cannabis and seven kilos of cocaine. Young raised his hand to catch the attention of Speaker Jagdeo Singh to ask a supplemental question. However, instead of giving Young the nod, Singh rose to make a statement on what he termed "a troubling matter" regarding rules for asking the four various types of questions in the House. Singh said while the standing orders clearly allow supplemental questions to be asked on urgent questions, and for questions on notice, this was not the case for PM's questions. He asked aloud why would the framers of the standing orders explicitly allow such a difference, saying these framers would have sought good legal advice before making this decision. Singh said, "There is a good reason why." He said two supplemental questions were allowed for urgent questions – which can be filed almost up to the hour of the sitting – and four supplementals for questions on notice (which appear on the order paper long before the sitting). Of the latter, Singh said, "Because of the amount of time to formulate your answer, you (the PM) are expected to be better prepared." However, regarding whether supplementals should be allowed for PM's questions, the Speaker said he could not arrogate power to himself to decide that, but rather he sought help from the House. He asked that the House's Standing Orders Committee meet on this question, which he added, could be decided upon in just an hour. Young rose to say if the standing orders were not clear, the House must follow the practice of the UK's House of Commons. Secondly, he said the Speaker is authorised to regulate matters. Thirdly, Young said in the House the practice has arisen to allow supplementals for the PM's questions. Jagdeo suggested the Standing Orders Committee meet on this matter. In the meantime, he said, Young was not without a remedy as he could file a question by open notice or seek details by filing a request under the Freedom of Information Act. The post Kamla: 18 charged under SoE appeared first on Trinidad and Tobago Newsday.